Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins, 603 pages

I think you could call this a stand alone novel, but it is a follow up to Ellen Hopkin's adult novel, Triangles.  For the first 300 or 400 pages of Tilt, the storyline overlaps with Triangles, but in Tilt, it is told from the teens perspective as opposed to their mother's perspective.  Tilt follows the lives of three teens, Mikayla, Harley and Shane.  Shane and Harley are cousins and Mikayla is a good friend.  Mikayla finds herself alone and pregnant when the father of her child abandons her.  She must decide to keep her baby or chose adoption.  Harley finds herself in dangerous situations, pressured by the boys she thinks care about her.  And, Shane, as a homosexual teen, finds himself in love with a young man with HIV.  Tilt is sad and heartfelt as the reader watches their lives intertwine and tumble out of control.

After - Amy Efaw

After By Amy Efaw - 350 pages

Before it all, Devon was a good student, a good athlete, and all-around good girl. But then IT happened - the thing that was so horrible, so shameful, so impossible to imagine the Devon simply chose not to admit it to anyone, even herself. But denial can't make a thing go away, and now Devon's in a juvenile detention center, facing a possible life sentence for her actions.Does she deserve the punishment? Did she know what she was doing? Or was her denial so deep that she was unable to register the seemingly unavoidable changes happening to her? Told with empathy and precision, Devon's story is a gripping page-turner that will challenge your beliefs about conscience and consciousness.

Triangles - Ellen Hopkins

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins - 529 pages

Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-at-home mom, she sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?

Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly's meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for - a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly's castaway husband?

Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges - a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.

As one woman's marriage, another's rekindles. As one woman's family comes apart at the seam, another's reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman's up is another one's down, and all of them will learn the meaning of  friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Tilt - Ellen Hopkins

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins - 602 pages

Witnessing the fallout from the poor choices their parents make and the lies adults tell themselves, three teens are clinging to the remnants of the secure and familiar world in which they've grown up. Makayla is sure she's found the love her parents seem to have lost, but is suddenly weighing nearly impossible choices in the wake of dashed expectations. Shane has come out, unwilling to lie anymore about who he is. Harley, a good girl just seeking new experiences, never expects to hurtle towards self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Crank - Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins - 537 pages

All it took to change Kristina Snow's life was a trip to visit her father. Three weeks in Reno and Kristina has become Bree and begun her relationship with "The Monster". As meth leads Kristina into mind-altering and life devastating choices, her family and friends are powerless to stop her quick dive into a life of sex and drugs. Kristina's life spins out of control as she "flirts with the monster" and most readers find themselves soaring through this intense novel in a matter of hours. As with all of Ellen Hopkins' novels you will find yourself immersed and unable to put it down.